DVLA Letter To

Dear Mr Rush

Freedom of Information

I am writing in reply to your recent Freedom of Information request which asked various questions regarding DVLA’s access to operational areas of companies who have requested information using the form V888/3. Your request has been dealt with under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA).

You specifically asked;

1. How many such investigations took place over the past 5 years?

I can confirm that the Agency holds information falling within the description specified in your request. However, we estimate that the cost of complying with your request would exceed the cost limit of £600. This represents the estimated cost of one person spending 3½ working days in determining whether the Department holds the information, and locating, retrieving and extracting the information. Under section 12 of the Freedom of Information Act the Agency is not obliged to comply with requests that would cost over £600 to process. That said, since 2007 details on the number of audits carried out have been recorded in electronic format. The figures are as follows:-

135 Audit Reviews were completed in 2007/8

121 Audit Reviews have been completed so far in 2008/9

1. What were the results of these investigations?

Following audit checks, 3 companies were removed until their operation was seen to be complying. Where issues were raised with companies, and recommendations made, revisits were made to ensure that those companies had addressed those recommendations and their operations met our standards. However, we do not hold a figure of the number of revisits.

I am unable to detail the results of the all revisits over all the years as to collate this information from the audits carried out would be estimated as one person spending 3½ working days in retrieving and extracting the information. Again under section 12 of the Freedom of Information Act the Agency is not obliged to comply with requests that would cost over £600 to process.

1. If there is any other audit mechanisms related to the use of requested Registered Keeper details, how many of these took place and what were the results?

There are no other audit mechanisms relating to the use of requested Register Keeper details.

1. What research the DVLA has done, or is aware of, regarding the appropriateness of disclosing Registered Keeper information to private parking companies, given that any legal remedy such companies have is likely to be with the driver, not the keeper. If any research has been done, please disclose the results of the research.

DVLA is charged with maintaining a register of vehicles and their keepers’ i.e. the person who is responsible for licensing the vehicle and for its use on the public roads. It is not a register of legal title to the vehicle. The vehicle keeper is usually the main driver and the person with whom law enforcement and private litigants can make first contact. If the keeper is not the driver responsible for an offence or other matter, this should be explained to the other party. DVLA has always taken the view that disclosure of the vehicle keeper details is justified in order to establish where responsibility lies. Otherwise, those responsible for road traffic or other contraventions would be immune from responsibility. DVLA does not record details of the driver of a vehicle at any point in time.

DVLA has not undertaken any formal research or is not aware of any formal research specifically into this matter, although the disclosure of vehicle keeper data under Regulation 27(1)(e) of the Road Vehicles (Registration and Licensing) Regulations 2002 was the subject of public consultation in 2006. Full details of the review and the outcome are published on Dft’s website at

5. Has DVLA commissioned or received any legal advice regarding the appropriateness of the disclosure mention in point 4 above? If so, what was the advice?

DVLA has not sort legal advice regarding the disclosure of vehicle keeper details when the driver of the vehicle may not be the registered keeper

The information supplied to you continues to be protected by the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. You are free to use it for your own purposes, including any non-commercial research you are doing and for the purposes of news reporting. Any other re-use, for example commercial publication, would require the permission of the copyright holder.

Most documents supplied by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency will have been produced by government officials and will be Crown Copyright. You can find details on the arrangements for re-using Crown copyright on the Office of Public Sector Information website at:

If you are unhappy with the decisions made by this Agency in relation to your request, you may ask for an internal review. If you wish to complain, you should write to Mrs Emily Meredith, Business Planning and Administration Group (BPAG), D16, DVLA, Longview Road, Swansea SA6 7JL or email to .

f you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you have the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at:

Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF

If you have any queries about this letter, please contact Emily Meredith. Please remember to quote the reference above in any future communications.

Yours sincerely

Paul Jeffreys

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